Parts of Chilliwack still digging out

City crews in Chilliwack were still dealing with drifting snow on several Sardis roads Tuesday morning

It’s being called the snowiest February in Chilliwack since 1990.

Final storm total saw 53 cm of snow as of Monday night in Garrison Crossing, according to Roger Pannett, who is a volunteer weather observer for Environment Canada.

It was eventually compacted down to about 31 cm, after the three-day snowfall event ended around 8 p.m. on Feb. 24, he said.

Temperatures hovered around the freezing mark, within a few degrees either way throughout, with cold and gusting winds.

City crews with graders, plows, and a big loader were out on the roads by 4 a.m. Saturday.

“Crews have been working 24 hours since,” reported Jamie Legatt, communications manager for City of Chilliwack. They were at it again overnight on Monday and into Tuesday and there were 11 sander/plows in operation over the storm.

Ultimately the amount of white stuff depended on which side of Highway 1 people were on.

Most reported less snow sticking on the north side of town, with fewer gusts and less overall snow accumulation than on the south side of Chilliwack, which also saw considerable challenges on some of the roads.

“The east wind is causing major snow drifting problems on all north/south routes, such as Prest Road, Evans Road, which the crews will continue to keep working on as needed,” Legatt reported on Monday.

Chilliwack RCMP closed a couple of roads south of Highway 1 in east Chilliwack due to blowing snow and icy conditions on Monday. By Tuesday several vehicles that had gone off the road on Prest were being recovered, causing delays.

University of the Fraser Valley closed all of its campuses and locations on Tuesday due to icy conditions on campus roadways and pathways, with day and evening classes cancelled for the day. School District #33 kept all the public schools open.

Trucks deposited 80 tonnes of salt and 160 tonnes of sand since Saturday morning and crews had to refill the salt sheds on Monday.

The February 2014 snowfall total blew away the average February snowfall of 17.0 cm, making it “the snowiest February since the 66.1cm snowfall in 1990,” according to Pannett.

As of Sunday night, Pannett described 36 hours of continuous snowfall in Chilliwack: “This is amazing.”